Food Safety

The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the main in-house research arm of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). ARS conducts research to develop and transfer solutions to agricultural problems of high national priority and provides information access and dissemination to: ensure high-quality, safe food and other agricultural products; assess the nutritional needs of Americans; sustain a competitive agricultural economy; enhance the natural resource base and the environment; and provide economic opportunities for rural citizens, communities, and society as a whole.

The purpose of this agency is to provide leadership in ensuring the health and care of animals and plants, improving agricultural productivity and competitiveness, and contributing to the national economy and the public health. Some of APHIS' activities include guarding U.S. borders against foreign agricultural pests and diseases. The USDA Beagle Brigade helps find prohibited agricultural materials carried by international travelers and search for and monitor agricultural diseases and pests.

The Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) performs an essential public health task by making sure that safe and effective drugs are available to improve the health of people in the United States. As part of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), CDER regulates over-the-counter and prescription drugs, including biological therapeutics and generic drugs. This work covers medicines and other drugs, including fluoride toothpaste, antiperspirants, dandruff shampoos and sunscreens.

The Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) regulates the manufacture and distribution of drugs and feed additives intended for animals. These include animals from which human foods are derived, as well as drugs and feed additives for pet (or companion) animals. CVM is responsible for regulating drugs, devices, and feed additives given to, or used on, over one hundred million companion animals, plus millions of poultry, cattle, swine, sheep, and minor animal species.

The Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) is one of five product-oriented centers of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The mission of CFSAN is to promote and protect the public health and economic interest by ensuring that the food supply is safe, nutritious, wholesome, and honest and that cosmetics are safe and properly labeled. In order to accomplish its mission CFSAN ensures that consumers are fully informed about the food and cosmetic products they buy; protects the public health through scientific research in food and nutrition; ensures accurate labeling of food; and educates consumers about diet and nutrition.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), a public health agency in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, ensures that the nation's commercial supply of meat, poultry, and egg products is safe, wholesome, and correctly labeled and packaged as required by the Federal Meat Inspection Act, The Poultry Products Inspection Act, and the Egg Products Inspection Act. FSIS inspects all meat, poultry and egg products sold in interstate and foreign commerce, including imports. FSIS also inspects products during processing, handling, and packaging to ensure that they are safe and truthfully labeled. Through the Agency's Meat and Poultry Hotline (1-888-674-6854) and consumer education programs, the public is informed on how to properly handle, prepare, and store meat, poultry, and egg products to minimize the growth of foodborne pathogens.

The mission of the USDA is to enhance the quality of life for the American people by supporting production of agriculture; ensuring a safe, affordable, nutritious, and accessible food supply; caring for agricultural, forest, and range lands; supporting sound development of rural communities; providing economic opportunities for farm and rural residents; expanding global markets for agricultural and forest products and services; and working to reduce hunger in America and throughout the world.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is the United States government’s principal agency for protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services, especially for those who are least able to help themselves. HHS works closely with state and local governments, and many HHS-funded services are provided at the local level by state or county agencies, or through private sector grantees. The department includes more than 300 programs, covering a wide spectrum of activities. In addition to the services they deliver, the HHS programs provide for equitable treatment of beneficiaries nationwide, and they enable the collection of national health and other data.

The mission of the EPA is to protect human health and to safeguard the natural environment--air, water, and land--upon which life depends. Through the work of its many projects and programs the EPA's purpose is to ensure that: all Americans are protected from significant risks to human health and the environment where they live, learn and work; national efforts to reduce environmental risk are based on the best available scientific information; federal laws protecting human health and the environment are enforced fairly and effectively; environmental protection is an integral consideration in U.S. policies concerning natural resources, human health, economic growth, energy, transportation, agriculture, industry, and international trade, and these factors are similarly considered in establishing environmental policy; all parts of society--communities, individuals, business, state and local governments, tribal governments--have access to accurate information sufficient to effectively participate in managing human health and environmental risks; environmental protection contributes to making our communities and ecosystems diverse, sustainable and economically productive; the United States plays a leadership role in working with other nations to protect the global environment.

FDA is responsible for protecting the public health by assuring the safety, efficacy and security of human and veterinary drugs, biological products, medical devices, our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, and products that emit radiation.
FDA is also responsible for advancing the public health by helping to speed innovations that make medicines more effective, safer, and more affordable and by helping the public get the accurate, science-based information they need to use medicines and foods to maintain and improve their health. FDA regulates the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of tobacco products to protect the public health and to reduce tobacco use by minors.
Finally, FDA plays a significant role in the Nation’s counterterrorism capability. FDA fulfills this responsibility by ensuring the security of the food supply and by fostering development of medical products to respond to deliberate and naturally emerging public health threats.

Consumers Union (CU) is independent nonprofit organization whose mission is to work for a fair, just, and safe marketplace and to empower consumers as they buy products and services. CU is comprehensive source for unbiased advice about products and services, personal finance, health and nutrition, and other consumer concerns. CU operates three Advocacy offices--in Washington, D.C., Austin, Texas, and San Francisco--that work on consumers' behalf on such issues as health care, food safety, financial services, and product safety. They testify before Federal and state legislative and regulatory bodies, petition government agencies, and file lawsuits on behalf of consumers. The Consumer Policy Institute, at CU's Yonkers, N.Y., headquarters, conducts research and education projects on issues of importance to consumers such as biotechnology, food safety and labeling, recycling, and sustainable consumption.

The mission of The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) is to raise public awareness, to provide advocacy and education, and to advance research on behalf of all those affected by food allergies and anaphylaxis (a life-threatening allergic reaction). FAAN is the world’s largest nonprofit organization providing patients information about food allergy and educational resources to schools, health professionals, restaurants, pharmaceutical companies, the food industry, and government officials.

The Food and Nutrition Board (FNB), established in 1940, advises public agencies on implications of nutrition research for food safety, nutritional status and health, food technology, food resources, and food processing. FNB identifies needed research and interprets research findings in the interest of public welfare. Separate committees have conducted projects in the fields of food protection, food consumption patterns, international nutrition, meat and poultry inspection, diet and health, nutrition education in medical schools, carcinogenicity of sweeteners, maternal and child nutrition, and water treatment chemicals. FNB has established the Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) and has conducted surveys of food additives. The Board has also developed guidelines for nutrient fortification of foods, recommendations for maternal and infant nutrition, and specifications of identity and purity for food chemicals. The FNB is not a public information source, but provides scientific assessments regarding food and nutrition issues through its publications and reports.

The International Food Information Council Foundation (IFIC) is a non-profit, educational organization designed to be a force that helps the media, educators, health professionals and scientists effectively communicate science-based information on health, nutrition and food safety for the public good. The IFIC foundation is the educational arm of IFIC. IFIC is supported primarily by the broad-based food, beverage and agricultural industries.

The National Consumers League (NCL) is America’s oldest consumer organization, representing consumers and workers on marketplace and workplace issues since our founding in 1899. NCL provides government, businesses, and other organizations with the consumer’s perspective on concerns including child labor, privacy, food safety, and medication information. NCL is home to the LifeSmarts program, Child Labor Coalition, NCL’s Fraud Center, and SOS Rx Coalition. NCL is a private 501(c)(3) membership organization.

Founded in 1919, the National Restaurant Association is the leading business association for the restaurant industry. Together with the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, our goal is to lead America’s restaurant industry into a new era of prosperity, prominence, and participation, enhancing the quality of life for all we serve.

This organization is a public-private partnership--industry, government and consumer groups-- created to reduce the incidence of foodborne illness by educating Americans about safe food handling practices. The partnership's mission include: making safe food handling meaningful to consumers through communications that are positive, upbeat and inherently empowering to foster behavior change; and combining the resources of the federal government, industry and several consumer organizations to conduct a broad-based food safety education campaign designed to reach men, women and children of all ages.

The World Health Organization (WHO) came into being on April 7, 1948 when the 26th United Nations member ratified its Constitution. The objective of WHO is the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health. In support of its main objective, the WHO has a wide range of functions including the following: to act as the directing and coordinating authority on international health work; to promote technical cooperation; to assist Governments, upon request, in strengthening health services; to furnish appropriate technical assistance, and in emergencies, necessary aid; to stimulate and advance work on the prevention and control of epidemic, endemic and other diseases; to promote, in cooperation with other specialized agencies where necessary, the improvement of nutrition, housing, sanitation, recreation, economic or working conditions and other aspects of environmental hygiene; to promote and coordinate biomedical and health services research; to promote improved standards of teaching and training in the health, medical and related professions; to establish and stimulate the establishment of international standards for biological, pharmaceutical and similar products, and to standardize diagnostic procedures; and to foster activities in the field of mental health, especially those activities affecting the harmony of human relations. WHO also proposes conventions, agreements, regulations and makes recommendations about international nomenclature of diseases, causes of death and public health practices. It develops, establishes and promotes international standards concerning foods and biological, pharmaceutical and similar substances.

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Page last updated:
Tuesday, March 31, 2015